Man Is Divine
by animeangel665
Summary: Life is like a play. SasuNaru ShikaKiba NejiGaa


_Act I – Innocence_

**Fade from black. Two young boys are playing in a sandbox. One is blond, the other is brunet.**

They were naïve as children, Naruto knew that much. They believed everything would work out in the end and they would always be together. They would be best friends forever; their children would be best friends, hell they even went as far as their grandchildren. It was a magical time for Naruto.

For Sasuke, it was the calm before the storm. He couldn't remember much from those days because it was only moments before the slaughter of his clan. Sometimes, if he really tried, he could see Naruto's perfect smile, or his deep blue eyes. But those times were far and between. Normally all he saw was the haunting red and black, taunting him. Those nights when he would wake up drenched in sweat from a nightmare, he would squeeze his eyes shut and try to picture Naruto's smile.

**Fade from white. One young boy with two red marks on his cheeks is sitting alone on a swing. A brunet boy with hair up in a ponytail walks up to him.**

Kiba knew from the moment he saw Shikamaru that they were meant for each other. He was the loud, spontaneous person Shikamaru needed. Not to mention that he seemed lonely. Sure he had Chouji, the nice pudgy kid, but when he was alone Kiba could tell that he was truly _alone_. When Kiba saw him walking up to the swings that day, he knew it was his chance.

Shikamaru didn't want friends. Chouji stuck with him because of their parents and because he had no real friends of his own. Shikamaru didn't care and let the kid tag along. Shikamaru hated people because no one was on his level. Not his parents, not his peers, nobody. It was when he was musing about swings and what kids found so damn entertaining about them that he met Kiba and, for the first time, he had to work to be on someone else's level.

**Enter stage left. Boy with red hair is walking down a road. Another boy with violet eyes bumps into him while playing a game with his cousin.**

Gaara could remember the first time he saw Neji. He was small and happy, nothing like the Neji he knew now. He had been playing tag or something with Hinata when he ran into Gaara. The brunet had apologized profusely, breathing hard. Hinata caught up and looked at Gaara in fear. He assumed she knew who he was. As she grabbed her cousins shirt and tried to pull him away from Gaara, Neji smiled at him and said they should play together some times. Before Gaara could answer, Hinata mustered up all her strength and pulled her cousin away from the person her father had called "evil".

Neji had always wanted to talk to the boy with deep red hair and sad eyes. The family had come to visit, since they were the children of the Kazekage. Neji didn't know much then because his family figured Neji wasn't important enough to be bothered with political affairs. His ignorance was one of the reasons he'd suggested he play a game with his cousin. The family thought this was a great idea and Neji took off down the road, hoping he'd see red hair. When he did, he made a beeline for the boy and "accidentally" bumped into him. He knew he only had a few moments before Hinata would come to take him away, but those few minutes were all he needed.

**Fade to black. Hear screams, crying, and words of betrayal. Fade from black.**

"Naruto!"

Blue eyes snapped open, turning to see a brunet boy, glaring at him angrily.

"Sasuke?"

"Geez, what's wrong with you today? You know I only have a little bit before my brother comes looking for me"

Naruto smiled. "Sorry, sorry"

Sasuke pouted and bent down to pick up his toy truck. He held it out. "We're playing delivery man, ok?"

"Right"

'Delivery Man' was a game Sasuke had come up with since it was quick and he didn't have much time before either his parents or his brother would come to find him. The game consisted of one of the boys pretending they had a delivery of something and the other boy would have to ask questions to try and figure out what was being delivered. Whoever won got whatever the delivery was, usually sand, grass, or mud.

This game, however, was going longer than Sasuke expected. Naruto was smiling, his cheeks red, and for the life of him Sasuke had no idea what he could be delivering.

"Can I hold it?"

"Nope"

"Is it edible?"

"Nu-uh"

Sasuke was puzzled at this one. Naruto always assumed that grass and mud were healthy for you.

"Do you want me to show you Sasuke?" Naruto asked, his blue eyes watching him intently.

Sasuke looked up at the sky and then back at Naruto.

"Yes"

Naruto's eyes lit up and he made his way to Sasuke. "Close your eyes"

Sasuke made a face.

"Just do it, please Sasuke?"

Sasuke sighed and his world went black. It was silent for a moment as Sasuke tried to think of what it could be. Finally he felt something soft lightly graze over his lips. His eyes opened immediately to see Naruto blushing like a fool.

"W-what was that?"

"It was a kiss Sasuke. I heard Ino and Sakura talking about it and how you only do it with someone you really like. I really like you Sasuke so…yeah" Naruto was beet red, smiling in embarrassment and looking at the ground. Sasuke just stared at the boy before kissing him on his cheek.

It was almost the start of something beautiful.

**Fade from white.**

"Kiba, what are you doing?"

The dog boy grinned back at his companion. "Flying"

Shikamaru sighed. "Flying is impossible, Kiba. You know that."

"Who says? Have you tried flying Shika-chan?"

"No, but-"

"Then how do you know you can't?"

Shikamaru decided to stay silent, not bothering to point out Kiba's faulty logic. It was quiet as he watched Kiba try to fly, Finally the boy turned around and said, in all seriousness, "I guess gravity is working today"

Shikamaru stared at Kiba's solemn expression before busting into laughter. Kiba looked up at him, surprised.

"Kiba you're such a…you're so…" Shikamaru gasped as he tried to calm down his laughter. He wiped a tear away from his eye as he looked up at Kiba. "Cute, you really are." Kiba felt his cheeks heat up at the look in Shikamaru's eyes.

He hoped the boy would look at him with those eyes forever.

**Enter stage left. Boy and girl with violet eyes and black hair.**

Neji pouted as his cousin dragged him home.

"I don't see what the problem was. I was just apologizing." 

"No you weren't. You wanted to play with him" Hinata countered, not looking back. Neji sighed.

"But he seemed so lonely."

Hinata didn't answer. Neji looked at his cousin. "You're lonely too, Hinata."

She sighed as he cheeks became red in embarrassment. "You're too nice for your own good Neji-san. That will be your downfall one day"

Neji grinned and stopped walking, pulling his cousin into his chest. "I hope he's my downfall."

Hinata blushed deep red and struggled to get out of Neji's grasp. He just laughed and hugged her tighter. "I love you Hinata. Thank you for being so wonderful". Hinata just gave up and hugged her cousin.

"Nothing I say will make you forget him, huh?"

"Nope"

Hinata looked up. "Fine, go. But don't say I didn't warn you"

"Never, Hinata-chan"

And he ran back for the boy with red hair, the first of many times to come.

**Exit stage right. Fade to black. Curtains close. End Act I**

* * *

**A Naruto Fanfic**

**Thank you for reading **

**I Do Not own Naruto**

**Just this idea.**

**A/N: This story is based off of William Blake's religious beliefs that 'man is divine'. He came up with three states of the human soul. The first one is innocence, which is characterized by childlike, naïve trust and considered to be genuine love. That's what this chapter is based on. I think the only one that might be to mature for 7/8 year olds is the last one between Neji and Hinata, but I couldn't figure out how to do it. I'm not very good at writing play directions so please forgive my mistakes.**

**My writers block is finally starting to disappear so I hope to have a new chapter of 'Forget Me Not' up soon. Please don't think I've abandoned it because I haven't!**

**And please review if you can. They make me smile.**


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